Blueprint 225

So what is it? Too much or not enough?
Obviously if it's to little you can get a crank grinder to grind a little more additional clearance at the Thrust journal or you may even be able to do that yourself very carefully using a flat surface and some 600 grit cloth to the Front side only of the journal...........I have heard of guys welding that area up and re-grinding...............but time is money so I doubt that would be the most cost effective way to fix an old crank , although used cranks for the 225's are getting hard to find...................up to .010 will still work on a daily driver , but it is down hill from there.

 

Found some time to get back on the Blueprint 225 Project...............still looking over this oiling system and trying to make some meaningful Improvements to an already poor oil system. If you do not have the right tools to do this upgrade then skip over this. There are some small things like matching up the ports in the pump & block that can also be done with little effort.........Keep in mind this is not a Night & Day Improvement.....Does it help the oiling? Absolutely! Your bearings will be much happier!

When it comes to the Buick V6 oiling system...........the only thing I can think of is the Buick engineers must have designed this on a Monday after a long weekend with little sleep.........The Chevy small block 265 had already been in production since 1955 and the oil system in that proved to be near spot on since inception including to this day with a few minor upgrades & improvements & still has the same pan mounted oil pump................I can only think that the two branches of GM did either not share or get along?

I'm enlarging the Ports that feed the oil from the Oil Pan Pickup that find there way to the Early 225 front cover mounted oil pump. This same Improvement was also done later by Buick in the later 231 motors...........I also slightly opened up the holes in the 225 block.

This is all being done to help mitigate the poor oil galley design where there are several 90 degree turns in the fluid route to the oil pump............A short lesson in fluid dynamics tells you that anytime you ask a fluid to change direction regardless of pressure it will slow down to make the turn......matching the enlarged ports in the cover will also make a difference.





Opening this hole up although Blank to the Block is done to access the lower cavity in the pump........the standard front cover gasket plugs the oil off to the block.




A slight countersink in the block is a good Idea to make sure the port ,cover , gasket and block line up..........RTV here on the gasket is fine , just make sure there is no excess to get into the port and partially block that passage. A counter bore in both parts with O-rings to seal would really be the ticket.


I'm using the V8 gears in this pump which are a 1/4" taller...........there is a 1/4" plate that goes above the housing to cover the longer gears.........In this picture I'm going to better match these ports. Also when these Pumps come from the factory the machining flash from the cutter coming across the port openings should also be cleaned with a small file or carbide burr........


Matching the ports

 

I like all the attention you are giving the oiling system.

 

agreed..

 

Not quite finished with the front cover or oil pump yet.............but for now I need to get this short-blocked so it's time to cut some rings.
First thing is read all the instructions that came with the ring set........Like wise read the instructions that came from the Piston Manufacture if you bored the motor and replaced the Pistons.
The factory spec for ring end gap on a 225 is .010"-.020" on the #1 and #2 Compression rings. A general rule of thumb on top rings is to take the bore size and times that by .0045" = ???....and on the second ring bore size times .0035" = ???

On Pistons you may also have to pay close attention to the manufactures ring end gap instructions.........I'm using Sealed-Powered pistons which are pretty common and they use what they call a Hypereutectic material in there casting.........This material is said to expand at much the same rate as the surrounding cast iron cylinder which allows for a tighter fit and less blow by. Although these manufactures using that material do specify that you must increase the top #1 ring only end gap by 20%-40% and that is because the Piston will carry more heat on top. In the real world that is an increase of about .002-.004 thousands total gap.



You'll need at least these two tools to One: get your rings square in the bore about 1" down and then Two: a good set of feeler gauges to measure the ring gap.


Most rings are marked with a dot -o- for side up or a chamfer inside for side down............they should be checked in the bore as they will be ran.........Make sure you read the instructions pertaining to up & down and ring position.
Now make sure both the rings and bore have been oiled and then Cock the ring in the bore slightly while at the same time you collapse the tension slightly as you roll the ring into the run position perpendicular to the bore...........Take the T-guage set at 1" and with a finger inside under the ring go around and push down in circular pattern using the gauge until the ring is square in the block........check the gap with the feller gauge and remove what the difference is between what is there and what you need.........make sure each trip to the grinder or file you clean any shavings or debris off the ring before you again do a trial fit in the cylinder........keep it clean.


A good ring grinder be it a manual one , a file , or one like I use here that is battery powered makes the ring end gap work a little easier......


Cutting off a thousands or two is easy work with the built-in micrometer..........I like to alternate sides when cutting......and this is done to get a square edge on both sides of the ring. So if your cutting .004" off total..... take .002" from each side.




I like to go through and check ring end gap and cut all the rings at one time..........I then just set them aside marked for each cylinder until I'm ready to put these on the pistons.

 

You match each ring set to each particular cylinder even though they should be the same bore, right? I see you have them numbered.

Terry this is great stuff.

 

I'm a little behind on keeping up with your blueprint build. You modified the timing cover oil ports for more flow. I have been using timing covers from Land Rover Discoverys, the earlier ones that still had distributors. They already have a much improved oiling system. This is a source for the old Buick parts that are getting scarce, only with the improvements made.
-Donny

 

Thanks Chris,

Yes , keeping them separate & numbered for re-assembly later would be the proper way since your cutting rings for each individual cylinder anyway.............And your right , if you have done the measuring correctly prior to getting to this step , and your machinist did his job correctly , chances are you have already found out the bores only vary a few tenths in size.........

Just another step in the process of Blueprinting a motor and extending the checks and balances.........as compared to say Inside the motor rebuild production sweat shops I doubt that measuring ring end gap ever happens.

 

Donny ,

I have heard about folks like you using some of those old parts off the Rover / Buick V8 ventures from back in the day......and I would love to see what you have done with those parts......

The front cover is just one of many improvements that the 225 could benefit from in the oiling system..........but the reality is the 225 is what it is , two cylinders cut off an aluminum V8 and aside from making it much better one would probably have to start first with a better designed block and oil galley system. GM did some improvements to the later built 231's but they too suffered from oiling issue's especially in the turbo motors.......where original turbo rolled fillet cranks basically no longer exist.

And even though I criticize the antiquated nature of how the 225 came to be , along with it's internals , I too still have an affection to it along with acknowledging it's remarkable history and longevity it has enjoyed for decades.

Perhaps you could show us all that Rover stuff in a separate thread on this site as It would surely be educational to all the 225 folks..............

Thanks

 

X2!

 

Moving along , I assume that most folks here already know how to load rings and bearings and install them into the waiting block........but for those less fortunate here are some brief instructions that may be helpful..............The key here is to take this Process slowly read the ring instructions and keep everything clean.
It's time to load the rings into the Pistons and get them into the cylinder bores. Hopefully you have a good ring compressor and a rubber handled mallet to use to tap the pistons into the bore............Of course some oil and assembly lube is also necessary...........again pay close attention to the ring manufacture's instructions. Some rings have a Dot -o- or a bevel to denote up or down while unmarked rings can go either way up or down..........you also should know by now what the difference is between the top & 2nd ring........don't mix them up and last the 3 part oil control bottom ring..........since we have already cut the rings for each cylinder, roll the crank over till you have one throw at the bottom of the bore. Adjust your engine stand so that it's comfortable to you to reach under and tap the pistons in...........I like to put the Piston and Rod into a vise with soft jaws clamping down only on the beam of the rod.......this will hold the piston firmly as you load the rings , smear a little oil around the flat surface of all of the rings prior to installing into the piston......starting at the bottom by first placing the large oil control expanding ring in the bottom groove.........again read the instructions as some of the expanded bottom oil rings have different methods of butting the ends together..........then load a small ring on bottom side and another on the top side of the expanded ring........moving the ring opening gap on these two rings to opposite sides..........the second ring is next and these become a little tougher to do since they have more tension........a ring expander tool is nice to have to install these.......same goes for the number 1 ring and again you want to split the ring end gaps to opposite sides. Make sure that all rings rotate freely within the ring lands in the Pistons.........once done ........put a short piece of rubber fuel line hose over both rod caps studs and then load the correct top connecting rod bearing into the rod........there is and indent notch in the rod that corresponds with the bearing..........make sure the back side of the bearing is clean as well as the bearing seat in the rod..........make sure you bore is lightly oiled down as well as the piston and skirt.............assembly lube should also be on the rod bearing half as well as on the crankshaft.............compress the ring compressor around the piston and rings to the desired pressure and then slowly drop the piston and rod assembly into the bore with one hand reaching in from the crankcase side to guide the rod bolts around the crankshaft while the other hand with the rubber mallet slowly taps the head of the piston into the cylinder bore..........most pistons are marked with and Arrow < Forward and you want that arrow to be pointing straight ahead so the rod aligns correctly with the crank..........once the rod and piston are in place and correctly seated on the crankshaft take the rod cap and make sure it is clean and load the other bearing half in it and install it with some assembly lube.........I always stamp two dots in one side of the rod half as an easy way of getting them back into the correct position when looking inside during assembly.......although they are offset but just pay attention...........tighten each rod bolt up as you install them with just a few lbs of pressure as later you will have to adjust the side clearance on the rods prior to torquing them down anyway..........


Here is the notch in the bearing I mentioned above.......the connecting rod side has a similar notch


Opps , Sorry about that!.........I said take it slowly but I forget to take any pictures while I was dropping these in each hole........quite honestly your hands are full here anyway and also covered with oil so here is the finished product...........


And from the top cylinders 1,3 & 5 side w/ arrows pointing forward.


And 2,4 & 6


With the rod bolts finger tight and properly lubricated........insert same sized feeler gauges near the parting line in each connecting rod. This may take a screw driver to pry the rods apart out near the bolts, do not try and drive the screw driver in between the rods.......... insert the largest feeler gauge of the same size in both sides that you can fit near each rods parting line. The trick her is that you are trying to square up that parting line in the rod using the feeler gauge to do the work...........Spec says total end or side play for both rods should be between .006"-.014". This is where your Crank Grinder earns part of his pay as he must adjust this when grinding your crank...............once you have gotten the most clearance in there on both sides start to slowly tighten each rod down.......5-10 lbs at a time..........usually the clearance will shrink some as they get tighter..........standard rod bolts are 35 lbs torque , The ARP bolts that I used get torqued at 45 lbs............This motor had .010" clearance when fully torqued down.

 

I have never used a feeler gauge to make sure the rod caps are square. I will not forget that.

How did you assemble the pistons and the connecting rods?

 

The 225 motor as do many others have Press fit Pins as opposed to some that have Full Floating Pins that are secured by a spiral wound clip in the piston....................

The Press fit method requires that the small end of the rod be heated up slightly and then once inside the piston pin bore in the correct rod orientation , the room temperature pin is then slid in engaging both the rod and piston............dis-assembly with a little heat is one thing , but re-assembly is another since the rod now becomes stationery on the pin as it cools and the pin floats in the piston pin bore..........so keeping the rod in the correct position on the pin while also keeping the ends of the pin balanced in measurement between each other is important.........

The folks at the machine shop have a fixture / press that holds the piston in place and they also have an electric rod heater..........for a few bucks per rod they make this job look easy without all the fuss , guessing and burning my hands that I would have.

 

Not a bad Idea.............but this one is already Sold and will soon be in his Jeep.

 

I know who has the winning ticket!

 

Who?????

 

I noticed how thick the skirts are on these pistons.
I think you stated that they are .060 oversize ?
I will suppose the pistons are a matched set concerning their individual weights.
But I wonder..... How might all that extra piston skirt weight effect the engine balance ?

 

Good question Ken..............And since I have a hunch you already know the answer to that question ...........I'll still answer it for all the other folks out there that might not be clear on the subject.

Your right that in most cases anytime you add extra weight due to the boring of the motor and the use of an over-sized & thus heavier piston or perhaps even a change of a rod that is a different weight , any or all can upset the effective rotating assembly weight and cause the need for re-balancing the complete rotating assembly within the motor.

The big end of the Rod and bearings attached to the Crank are considered Rotating weight........while the small end of the Rod , pistons , rings and pin locks if used are considered Reciprocating weight that instead of spinning around on the Big end of the Crank just move up & down within the cylinder bore. Typically most folks that balance motors for a living take 100% of the rotating weight and 50% of the reciprocating weight added together to form the total of what is called the "Bob-weight" which is used to weigh the Crankshaft during the balancing process to be able to add or subtract weight to the assembly to get it to balance correctly...........the methods to do so vary from grinding off some weight off the counter weights to adding heavier metal within some. We also add a few grams to offset the weight of the oil clinging to things and typically "Overbalance " the assembly if the motor is to be subjected to high RPM's.

The good news in the case of this motor is that it has been balanced using and weighing all of the components within like the Pistons , Pins & rings , Rods and bearings , Crankshaft, Front vibration dampener , flywheel , pressure plate and any associated nuts and bolts.

Typically when you see a number stamped on a counterweight and see some grinding or welding done that is a sure sign that this Crank has been balanced........this will be the second time in it's life that my old motor has been re-balanced.

Note: The offset of all this work mentioned above is when I build a Racing Motor........I supply the Bob-Weight in advance to the fellow that builds my Crankshafts..........these cranks are ultra-light , gun-drilled through the center including having hollow journals , the counter weights are also aerodynamically shaped to cut through the fog of residual oil left behind within the pan on a dry sump system........through these advanced computer programs the New Crankshaft is Machined , Ground & Built correctly balanced to my Bob-weight and requires no further attention once it arrives.

 

Yeah Tarry that's certainly a sensible approach.
Can''t really go wrong if the engine is re-balanced.

If an engine rebuild is re-using the original crankshaft and flywheel then the rotating balance should remain unchanged.
Then the reciprocating mass is all that becomes effected.
Reciprocating mass change is an important reason to keep the over bore as small as possible.
Also any rod journal grinding plus the thicker bearings will all effect the reciprocating mass..
Retaining the original connect rods will also help to minimize the mass change.

On I4 Hurricanes I never bother to re-balance anything because every change is directly opposed by the opposite cycle.
On the I4 engines the reciprocating weights are directly opposed and that minimizes balance concerns.
But on Hurricanes I still prefer to keep the overbore to a minimum.
The Hurricane has such a very long stroke and the extra weight of heavy pistons only adds to the already tremendous pressure upon the rod journals.
Not to mention cylinder wall thickness becomes a cooling problem if it walls become too thin.

Sadly the reciprocating forces are not directly opposed on 90* V6 engines.
Plus the oddfire sequence prohibits directly opposite cycles.
So the reciprocating balance is far more intertwined with the rotating balance.

I did not re-balance my first oddfire build partly because the crankshaft was never ground and was polished.
I don't plan to ever operate that engine beyond 4000 RPM so it should serve fine as it is.

But I have not really decided things on my current Dauntless build.
My current build was bored .030 O.S.
If I recall the rod journals were only ground to .010 U.S.